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Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Arutchelvan denies rumours, will contest in Semenyih (FMT)

He is not pulling out of the race for a senator position that may be offered by Pakatan Rakyat, as claimed by some.

PETALING
JAYA: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan
dismissed rumours that he will be pulling out from contesting the
Semenyih state seat in Selangor during the 13th general election.
“Many people in Semenyih are saying that I would withdraw from the
contest. It is not true. I am definitely contesting in Semenyih,” said
the Kajang municipal councillor.

He said this in response to rumours that he would not contest and
instead would be offered a senatorship by Pakatan Rakyat if it captured
the federal government.

Hamidi is doing so without the consent of his party since PKR has not announced any intention of contesting in Semenyih.
“He was not even shortlisted by the Hulu Langat PKR division and he
claims to be PKR’s Malay candidate for Semenyih,” said a Pakatan source.
It is believed that Hamidi is working as a staff for PKR deputy
president Azmin Ali. Azmin is the Gombak MP, Bukit Antarabangsa state
assemblyman and Selangor PKR chief.
Asked about the calls for a Malay candidate, Arutchelvan dismissed it.

“Semenyih is one of the three state constituencies within the Hulu
Langat parliamentary constituency. In the 11th general election held in
2004, the PAS candidate lost with a bigger majority than I did in 2008,”
he said.
The other state seats in Hulu Langat are Kajang and Dusun Tua. Kajang
is represented by PKR’s Lee Kim Sin whereas Dusun Tua is represented by
Ismail Sani of Umno.

In 2004, Mohd Khairuddin Othman of PAS lost to Umno’s Ahmad Kuris
Mohd Nor. Khairuddin polled 5,425 votes to Ahmad’s 13,280 votes. Ahmad
won with a majority of 7,855 votes.
In 2008, Arutchelvan contested in Semenyih and lost to Johan Aziz of
Umno by a majority of 1,140 votes. Johan polled 11,588 votes to
Arutchelvan’s 10,448.

Semenyih is a semi-urban seat. In 2008, it had 54% Malay, 29% Chinese and 17% Indian voters.
Arutchelvan also said that Hulu Langat MP Che Rosli Che Mat won the
parliamentary seat not due to Malay votes from Semenyih or Dusun Tua but
because of a majority support from Kajang.
PSM would also be contesting in another state constituency in Kota
Damansara in Selangor, Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency and
Jelapang state constituency. The last two seats are in Perak.

Tiff with DAP?
On another matter, Arutchelvan told FMT that there are attempts to
put DAP and PSM at loggerheads over a state seat contested in Perak.

“Our party members have so far found three banners depicting PSM
central committee member M Sukumaran as PSM candidate for Jalong if DAP
does not make way for us to contest in Jelapang.
“I believe BN or some third party is trying to create more rifts in our relations with DAP,” he said.
Sukumaran is one of the six PSM activists who were detained under the
Emergency (Prevention of Crime and Public Order) Ordinance in 2011 for
suspicion of being the key movers of Bersih 2.0 rally. All six were
subsequently released due to overwhelming public pressure.